Elias opened his eyes as the morning sun shone through the curtains, casting a gold ray into the dark room. The young man was, in sharp contrast to what was expected, not lying in bed. Instead, he was seated at the table on the other side of the room, upper body sprawled across the desk on a half played game of solitaire. Unable to sleep for fear of dreaming, Elias had played solitaire into the wee hours of the morning until, brain finally lulled by the repetitive play, he'd fallen into a doze at the table.
It was morning now. Elias blinked blearily at the oddly bare room, slowly registering it through stray locks of blonde hair that had fallen halfway across his eyes. Blowing them out of his face with a half hearted huff, Elias slowly shifted his eyes across the room until it locked onto the clock.
7am. Four hours sleep this time, Elias brain helpfully supplied, and he groaned, deep and heartfelt. With arms that felt like lead, Elias slowly pushed himself up from the table with super Herculean effort. His cheek came unstuck from the table with a small pop that sounded like stretched gum breaking, and a card stuck to his cheek stubbornly kept its hold on Elias's chin before losing grip and fluttering to the floor. With a yawn, Elias left the card on the floor and did a full body stretch like a cat, raising his arms above his head, and made his way to the bathroom.
Toothbrush, face wash, doing business which should thankfully be left vague in text. By the time Elias stepped out of the bathroom he was a lot more cleaner than when he'd stepped in and feeling a lot less like death warmed over, although still tired. With the way Elias bounded cheerfully across the room towards his closet, however, you'd never have guessed that he was running low on sleep - until the dark bags under his eyes were noticed, anyway.
Clothes! And then breakfast - Elias was starving, he hoped that there was toast. Pulling out a baggy maroon hoodie and a pair of black trousers, Elias hummed what sounded suspiciously similar to the bohemian rhapsody as he changed out of his sleepware into something more suitable for the start of the day. Gathering his cards and shuffling them neatly into a pile, Elias slid the blue pack into its plastic casing and slipped it into his pocket, before heading for the door.
Just as he was about to reach for the knob, Elias snapped his fingers. "My lighter!" He exclaimed out loud, doing an abrupt U-turn. He made for the bathroom - and a couple steps paused and patted his pockets.
Yup, it was in his pant pocket. Thank heavens - he'd thought he'd left it with his toothbrush. Chuckling a little to himself, Elias wheeled around and headed straight out of the door, making his way towards the facilities common room for breakfast.
He made it there in record time. Closing his eyes and taking in the scent of coffee, Elias slipped his hand into his pocket around the lighter, tightening his grip on it as he steeled himself. Painting a smile on his face, Elias stepped forwards and pushed opened the door. His eyes met Natalie, and Elias gave a quick wave towards her before breaking contact. Keeping close to the walls, Elias tried to push down the creeping feeling that his back was open and instead walked casually to the cupboards, pulling out a box of cereal.
Best to face the day on a full stomach, right? Within no time, Elias had a small bowl of cheerios and milk and was seated comfortably in the chair that was leaning against the wall, feet drawn up in a cross legged sprawl on the sofa. He gave a small grin and wave to Isaac (successfully ignoring the sketchbook, score 1 for himself!), a silent morning greeting, but other than that he ate his cereal alone, quietly humming a stanza of classical music under his breath.
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Early as it was, the streets were bustling with life, ranging from kids walking their way to school to shopkeepers opening their stores for business. Amongst them, blending into the background with a light grey sports jacket and black shorts that reached just above the knee was Zane, carrying a small bag that was slung securely behind his back as he jogged down the street, moving deftly to the side whenever a person was in front of him like a salmon swimming downstream in migrating season.
During his hypomanic periods, jogging to the facility was Zane's way of starting the day, and as this was the third day into this part of the cycle Zane saw no point in breaking it. Jogging was good exercise, and it helped to balance his blood pressure and get rid of the energy that made him itch in place and shortened his temper. It left him exhausted after, sure, but the resulting rush of endorphins and the decrease in irritation after was worth the aching muscles and tiredness.
Seeing a dark alleyway just ahead, Zane readjusted his pace and headed straight for it. A quick glance proved it empty, and Zane made an abrupt turn to the right into it, ignoring the graffitied wall as he ran alongside it. It wasn't much, but it shortened the distance by at least five minutes and shortcuts were completely worth it, even if said shortcuts were occasionally gang territory.
The alley was small, surrounding Zane on both sides with high walls that had diamond grid fences which loomed over the running boy. Heart beating a quick rhythm in his chest, Zane increased his pace as he went under a narrow bridge, path sloping unevenly downwards, and he grinned as he spotted the chain fence up ahead.
It was more than half his height. Over the other side was an abandoned office building, decaying and rusting. A more cautious person would have taken the turn to the right that lead to the bridge, but as Zane was feeling particularly reckless today, he increased his pace into a sprint -
And leapt at the fence.
There was a loud clang as the fence shook from the impact of a seventeen year old boy jumping against it like a bulldozer landing against a wall, but it remained standing. Using the holes in the diamond grid fence as handholds, Zane scaled the fence like a ninja and down to the other side, leaping down the last few inches in a fit of goodwill. Grinning at the feel of a job well done, Zane resumed his jog to the facility, making it there just in time for breakfast.
Or well, just in time to use the showers facility, anyway.